The Prometheus Dance Elders Ensemble was founded in 2004 and was created with the aim of informing the young and the old that dance is a form of communication and that there is power, integrity, virtue and beauty within the community of elders. Created by Artistic Directors Diane Arvanites & Tommy Neblett, the elders perform movement theatre that tells the stories of their lives as dancers, daughters, mothers and friends. The Elders perform in concert venues, senior centers, and rehabilitation centers multiple times per year. The Prometheus Dance Elders Ensemble is comprised of ten post-professional dancers ages 56-86. Many of the senior dancers studied with the greats of modern dance (Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Anna Sokolow, Jose Limon) throughout the 1930’s, ‘40’s and ‘50’s and are a living link to the origins of modern dance. The Ensemble recently received a Gold Star Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for outstanding arts programming in the state.

The Elders Ensemble also includes movement workshops at senior citizens community centers, rehabilitation centers and assisted living centers in their performance package. These optional movement workshops provide experience for the members or residents to participate in age specific and safe exercise. Movement workshops emphasize the awakening of sensation and physicality in the body on multiple levels. The workshops focus on creating energy through breath, sensing external space, achieving movement fluidity in muscles, and articulation of the joints. Much of this work is done seated and can be done according to each mover’s abilities. We tailor the workshops according to audience capability.

Since it’s inception the ensemble has performed at multiple venues throughout Massachusetts in addition to free performances for the senior community at the Dance Complex in Central Square, Cambridge. The Elders Ensemble tours to centers that cannot travel to our concert outreach performances. Some of these venues include the Boston Alzheimer’s Center, Cambridge Citywide Senior Center, the Brookline Senior Center, the Hebrew Rehab Center in Brookline, the Sudbury Senior Center, and the Standish Village Senior Center among others. The company has also performed at the State House in Boston for Transforming Violence (a celebration of the transforming power of art), annually at the Dance Complex for Dance Month’s Tuesday’s at Noon, and as guest artists with Joan Green at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center.

Following each Elders Ensemble performance we hold a post performance discussion with the aim of reflecting on the work and gaining insight through audience perspective. The audience has the opportunity to express their opinions, talk about their individual experiences, and voice any questions or issues that may arise. Often the traditional Q and A addresses questions regarding dancer history, age, choreographic interpretation, performance experience, and relationship to one another. Most audience members are delighted and surprised that they are held at attention from the power and beauty of these spirited women. Occasionally the content of the work brings about discussions about social and political issues. All ticketed performances are sold out.

The value of age and experience is vital to our understanding of life as a whole. Creating a platform from which our elders can express themselves fully and with wisdom is a gift for us all. They are so full in their existence that they are role models of life and can teach us to cherish that which leads us to old age. From elder to elder the message is to live life fully and express it honestly.